A small gathering of friends

If I were to gather all of my close friends from high school, the ones I used to hang around every day, what would it be like? Would we pick up where we left off? Or with the run of our lives, separate and apart, without the further melding of experiences and joys and sorrows, would we be free to pick up where we left off and reclaim what we once had?

In some sense, the continuation of our experiences, separate from what we had together, might not make much difference. Yesterday, a group of my former classmates at Dunwoody High got together at a restaurant in Dunwoody. It was somewhat of an odd mix, since most of us weren't real close while in school. But we ultimately had more in common than differences. And it was very easy to slip into a comfortable ease of communication and affection with these folks who together shared the halls and classrooms of Dunwoody High School.

They are all nice folks and we touched our lives together like the clinking of glasses and joined again in a sweet reunion. We have beautiful, intelligent children, those of us who have children, and our spouses, those of us who have spouses, are fun and interesting. We have suffered some downturns. Specifically, in these days when our economy struggles and spits along in spurts and gasps. Our lives seem overall to be fruitful and fun. It was a lot of fun to be with them for a short visit. I hope we can get more of us together for the next meeting.

We are getting older together. We are preparing our children for their lives together. We have more in common than we understand. We should strive to struggle together as well, with an empathy born in common origins and continuing experiences. I look forward to the next time.